Civil Society Organizations partner with the BLIC project to work on crucial LGBTI issues in Barbados
Early September this year, the United Nations Development Programme’s Office for Barbados and the OECS hosted the 1st consultation of Lesbian, Gay, Bi-sexual, Transgender and Intersex (LGBTI) Civil Society Organizations at the UN House in Barbados. The consultation, a vital activity under the “Being LGBTI in the Caribbean” project, brought together six CSOs working on LGBTI issues in Barbados as well as a sub-regional group from the OECS (ECADE).
Amongst others, CSOs participants included Barbados Gays, Lesbians and All-Sexuals against Discrimination (B-GLAD), Empowerment Quality Unity Acceptance Love Strength (EQUALS), Community Education Empowerment & Development (CEED), Movement against Discrimination Action Coalition (MOVADAC), Sexuality Health and Empowerment (SHE) and Eastern Caribbean Alliance for Diversity and Equality (ECADE). These entities usually operate in silos, complementing each other’s areas of work: EQUALS, for instance, is currently providing services in the area of Sexual and Reproductive Health (SRH), whereas BGLAD does public advocacy, CEED provides capacity building around education and vocational skills and MOVADAC does training with employers.
This gathering at the UN House served LGBTI CSOs to get acquainted with the BLIC project goals and activities, and more importantly, to provide their expertise both for the validation of previously gathered information on training needs, as well as in the planning of future community and national dialogues. During the meetings, participants affirmed their willingness to be close collaborators of the BLIC project. Some discussions touched upon their personal experiences regarding the lack of safe spaces for LGBTI youth, how to increase female representation in leadership in advocacy, how to ensure media engagement, promote policies for protecting LGBTI people or establish prosperous public-private partnerships for policy development.
Getting support and insights from CSOs is critical to the project as it requires their buy-in for succeeding. CSOs also have the access to key populations that remain cautious and often hidden, due to the open discrimination they sometimes face in this part of the region. They are also important in validating the contents and activities of the project. This has led to the prioritizing of human rights, and stigma & discrimination training in the first active implementation phase of the project. Their recommendations for other areas and partners also bodes well for successful implementation and dialogues. A comprehensive dialogue at national level, with partners from Civil Society, public and private institutions is expected to take place in this part of the region in 2019. Its results will help completing a national report on the LGBTI rights and the state of progress in the three countries under the Eastern Caribbean project (Barbados, St. Lucia & Grenada).
